Abstract

We report, for the first time, the laser oscillation from 2% Ho3+:Lu2O3 hot pressed ceramic. We have synthesized optical quality Lu2O3 nano-powders doped with concentrations as high as 5% Ho3+. The powders were synthesized by a co-precipitation method beginning with nitrates of holmium and lutetium. The nano-powders were hot pressed into optical quality ceramic discs. The optical transmission of the ceramic discs is excellent, nearly approaching the theoretical limit. The optical, spectral and morphological properties as well as the preliminary lasing performance from highly transparent ceramics are presented.